The Rio Grande Valley FC Toros (9,5,9) traveled to Tulsa and collected the three points after defeating Tulsa Roughnecks FC (5,15,3) 5-0. RGV FC Toros earned the club’s first back-to-back wins.
The Toros dominated the possession of the ball early in the game. Toros’ Rob Lovejoy found his rhythm early in the game and created opportunities for Rio Grande Valley. Lovejoy would have a chance to score in the 9th minute but his chip over Tulsa’s goalkeeper, Alex Mangels, went wide to the right. Tulsa Roughnecks FC had a chance to jump on the score sheet first in the 17th minute. RGV’s Calle Brown denied Cristian Mata’s shot. Lovejoy had another dangerous shot in the 44th minute. Rob Lovejoy cut to his right to evade the Tulsa defense and then shot a powerful shot. Alex Mangels came out with the save to send both teams even at halftime.
In the 51st minute, the Toros were awarded a penalty after Mangels knocked down Toros’ forward Ruben Luna. Emilio Garcia stepped up to shoot the penalty and placed it in the lower left corner to score the first goal for the away team. Luna got on the score sheet in the 59th minute after finishing his own rebound. Rob Lovejoy sent a well placed cross that found Luna who was completely open. His initial shot was blocked by Mangels, but was left in front of Luna who buried it for the second goal of the game.
Dzenan Catic jumped off the bench to score once again. A Tulsa rebound left Catic unmarked and with the goal wide open in the 78th minute. Catic did not forgive and made it 3-0 for the Toros. Eric Bird scored the fourth for the Toros in the 82nd minute. Bird hit a textbook volley that left Tulsa’s goalkeeper with no chance. Catic capitalized off Tulsa’s defensive blunder in the 86th minute. Tulsa’s defense headed the ball towards Alex Mangels. After the ball went over Mangels, Catic was there to put the ball in the back of the net for the final goal of the night.
The Toros have not conceded a goal in the past seven games, for a total of 630 minutes. The Rio Grande Valley stays on the road and will next face Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on Sunday, August 21st. The match will kickoff at 2:30p.m. Tulsa Roughnecks FC will host OKC Energy FC on Saturday, August 20th.
